For many years, dentists have been advising people to brush their teeth from the gums toward the tooth, by using a rotational up-and-down motion of the wrist. However, the motion is difficult to learn, particularly when the habit of brushing teeth horizontally back-and-forth is commonly ingrained in people and is very hard to break, by brushing their teeth using a horizontal back-and-forth motion, people often push some bacteria into the gums, resulting in gum disease and gingivitis.
A multitude of mechanical toothbrushes is available on the market. Each toothbrush offers a different mechanism for improving the dental hygiene of its users. The most common types of mechanical toothbrushes offer a rotating, vibrating, or reciprocating head. However, due to the fact that only the head of the toothbrush moves, most people continue to use horizontal back-and-forth movements with such mechanical toothbrushes, and continue to introduce bacteria into the gums. Proper and effective use of such mechanical toothbrushes still requires the user to proceed with a rotational motion of the wrist, and not a horizontal back-and-forth movement, and thus requires breaking existing tooth-brushing habits.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a toothbrush with bristles which rotate about a longitudinal axis of the toothbrush for mechanically replicating the desired circular motion of a user's hand in properly brushing his/her teeth, without requiring the user to change his or her tooth-brushing habits.